


Strength Training

by cesau



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Crack, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 09:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11986566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cesau/pseuds/cesau
Summary: Mae has ideas. Boey does not like them.





	Strength Training

**Author's Note:**

  * For [robotortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotortoise/gifts).



> It was half-hour half-crack written for Sally's birthday; don't judge me.

Strength training.

That was what Mae had called it, when she’d barged into Boey’s room at the Novis Port inn before dawn, yanked him out of bed by the arm, and dragged him outside. Strength training. He’d been halfway through forming a very stern reprimand when he noticed Celica standing there by the wall of the inn as well, and he thought the better of it.

“This is...rather unorthodox, isn’t it?” he said awkwardly instead. “What exactly is it you two are planning?”

Mae grinned triumphantly. “I knew bringing Celica along was a good idea,” she said. She nudged Celica’s shoulder and stage-whispered, “He’s always on his _best behavior_ when you’re around.”

“Mae!”

“Oh, please! It’s totally true!” She stuck her tongue out and Boey again resisted the impulse to respond in kind. _Not in front of Lady Celica,_ he reminded himself. He cleared his throat and most definitely did _not_ grin at the disappointed look on Mae’s face.

“Pray tell, what are we doing out before the sun has even risen?”

“I already told you; we’re doing some strength training,” Mae said.

“And what, exactly, does that entail?”

Mae grinned. Boey was suddenly very, very concerned.

“It’s time to face your fears, Boey. We’re gonna crush some Terrors!”

* * *

He tried to protest the plan as soon as it was suggested, but the girls were having none of it. Mae, he suspected, only wanted to watch him suffer and lord his weakness over him. Celica, at least, he believed to have good intentions.

“I couldn’t help but notice how shaken you were at the cemetery on our way here,” she said. (“Yea, uh, I think we _all_ noticed,” Mae interjected.) “It’s not that I don’t have faith in you, but we’re likely to face a great many more of these monsters as we continue our journey. When the time comes, I want you to be able to fight with confidence.”

As far as Boey was concerned, he was already fighting in top form, and no amount of ‘strength training’ was going to ease his anxiety around those misshapen beasts. All the same, Celica spoke with such sincerity and concern, and he couldn’t bring himself to turn her down. Not when she’d gone through all the trouble of setting this up in the first place.

“Very well, milady.”

That was how they ended up back in Novis Cemetery for the second time in as many days, just the three of them. (Celica said she felt bad about waking Genny, and Boey supposed the mercenary they’d just hired probably wouldn’t take kindly to the interruption, either.)

And Boey _tried_. He really did.

But at the first sight of one of those undead monstrosities, he was ashamed to admit he let out a very girlish scream. It wasn’t entirely his fault; none of them had actually seen it from its hiding spot behind a large and crumbling tombstone. So, in his defense, it was actually very surprising when it came shambling out while they walked by. Even Mae jumped a little. (But she did not scream, and he already thought he was probably never going to hear the end of that.)

“This is exactly why we’re here,” Celica said, hand clenched into a fist atop her breast. She looked him in the eyes, face set in an expression of stern determination. _“Good luck, Boey.”_

And then she took off running, Mae hot on her heels.

“What...what are you doing?!” he yelled at their retreating backs. They stopped some distance away, taking shelter behind another large tombstone and watching him intently.

“We’re your moral support!” Mae called. “You go beat up some Terrors, and we’ll keep an eye out from waaaaaaaay over here! After all, it’s not like _we_ need any training.”

“I beg to differ!” Boey cried indignantly, quickly correcting it to, “At least as far as _you’re_ concerned, Mae! Lady Celica, on the other hand-”

His hurried explanation was cut off by the Revenant, which he’d very nearly forgotten about, extending its long claws out toward his very breakable face. He leaped back with a yelp of surprise and automatically began to ready his fire spell. The thing went down in two hits, and he breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to the girls.

“Well done, Boey!” Celica called. “Do you feel any better yet?”

“With all due respect, milady-”

This time, he was cut off by Mae taunting, “Woah-ho-ho~! Watch your back, Boey, there’s more where that came from!”

Or perhaps not exactly taunting, because she was not wrong. It seemed the moment the first Terror hit the ground, two more sprung up to take its place. Skin crawling at the sight of them, Boey still managed to take them out.

It was perhaps half an hour later that the stream of them finally began to die down, and he leaned over, exhausted. Neither Celica nor Mae had helped at all, though they were certainly happy to offer their thoughts on his technique. It was not as appreciated as he suspected _they_ suspected it was.

“Can we...can we go back now?” he panted. Celica and Mae shared a look, and then Mae shrugged.

“Yea, I guess so. It was fun while it lasted though.” Boey glared in her general direction, though he wasn’t sure she was close enough to actually see it. 

The two of them began to walk toward him, only to stop short, a shocked look on Celica’s face and a delighted one on Mae’s. Boey’s blood went cold.

“What is it?” he asked with growing dread.

“Hoo boy, you, uh. You should look behind you,” Mae answered.

He did. He regretted it immediately.

The Revenants were bad enough, with their rotting skin and horrible noises. He’d never actually _seen_ a Bonewalker up close before. It was... Unsettling seemed a lackluster word to describe the awful thing, the lurking pile of bones carrying a massive sword made of the same. He might have called it...pants-shittingly terrifying, perhaps, if he were less of a gentleman.

“Eep,” he said.

“You can do this, Boey!” Celica called, shock becoming an encouraging and firm smile. “This is what we were training for! Treat him as any other enemy, and you’ll be just fine!”

“Don’t get stabbed!” Mae offered helpfully.

The Bonewalker swung its blade and Boey was quick to dodge, mostly because he was already attempting to run away when it happened. But then he looked back to the girls, Celica and her unwavering trust, and even Mae looked almost excited to see what would happen - and he couldn’t let them down.

He took a deep breath, and he readied his magic. He could do this. He could!

He fired off his spell, too wild, barely brushing the thing’s shoulder. The second attempt was slightly more successful, but the walker staggered only a minute before readying its sword once more. It swung down in a long arc, and Boey dodged to the side and ended up far, far too close to the decaying monster and he sort of wanted to throw up but that did not seem like a sound battle plan.

“Kick him in the nards, Boey!” Mae cheered.

“It’s a skeleton! It doesn’t have-!” And then the blade was coming down again, and he scrambled out of the way while firing off another spell.

It turned out the closer distance was, in fact, a tactical advantage, as the fireball hit it point-blank in the chest, and with a final cry, its breastbone shattered. The rest of it quickly followed suit.

Boey stood there a moment, looking at the remains, in shock. Well, then. He actually _could_ do it. That was nice.

He turned to look at the girls, a growing smile on his face, and then he let out strangled cry once more. There was a Terror closing in behind them, one that must have snuck up while they were distracted by the fight. It was right behind Mae, reaching out one claw-!

He acted without thinking, running forward and shooting off another fire spell while yelling “Duck!” at the same time, and thank Mila for Mae’s quick reaction time or that could have gone horribly wrong, but as it were, the result was the best he could have hoped for. Mae slid out of the way and the spell hit its target dead-on, setting the Revenant to ashes.

Mae sat on the ground, a horrified look on her face. Boey hurried to her side, suddenly concerned by her quietness. As he looked her over, she shivered and shook her head, then seemed to become slightly more alert.

“Did you...did you just save me?” she muttered.

“I believe so?” Boey said. It had been the sensible thing to do, and he didn’t even feel particularly proud of it - only very, very relieved that it had worked out okay.

“You really did, didn’t you…” Mae sighed, and she smiled softly. “Thanks, Boey. Guess we can call the strength training a success!” She stood and brushed off her dress, and then her smile became much less soft and much more Mae. “Don’t think I forgot about the way you screamed earlier, though! Man, what even was that? Your voice went higher-pitched than mine!”

Yes, that was rather more in line with Mae’s personality. Still, all things considered...he supposed it could have been worse.

* * *

Back at the inn, Boey immediately retired to his room and said he would be out when it was time to leave. When he was gone, Mae turned to Celica and placed her hands on her hips.

“Okay, spill: what was the deal with that Revenant?” she asked. “I mean, I guess I was kind of distracted, but there’s no way that thing got the drop on you! Why didn’t you take care of it before it got near me?”

“Well, I was going to,” Celica said, “but Boey spotted it fairly quickly. I figured he had it under control.”

“Ugh, but now every time I tease him, he’s just gonna bring up the time he saved my life!”

Celica smiled. “In fairness, I only agreed to this training plan at all because you said you talked it over with him first. That clearly is not what happened here.”

Oh, so Celica had realized that, huh? Mae wondered if it was too late to salvage the situation.

“So I fudged the details a little! C’mon, it was still worth it. Look, he got stronger and he even got to be a hero and save the day. I bet he’s feeling all proud of himself right now, so it all worked out in the end, right?”

“It was certainly a learning experience,” Celica said with a sly smile. “The way you two look out for each other is very reassuring.” Mae felt her face heat up and she looked away with a pout.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No, of course not.” Celica started back to her own room, but then she paused and looked over her shoulder. “But Mae? Next time you want to spend time with Boey...you should probably just ask him. I really don’t think he’d turn you down.”

_“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”_

Honestly. What would be the fun in that?


End file.
